You can’t kick a 9-yard field goal anymore, but two players did it. Jim Turner kicked one for the Jets in Super Bowl III, having already made kicks from 32 and 30, and Mike Clark did as well in Super Bowl VI.
You see, way back in 1969, the uprights were right on the goal line, but some players were running into them and getting hurt. So in 1974, the goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end line making this nine-yarder from Turner a record that can never be broken. You might not know the name Jim Turner, but his name will live on in the record books forever.
Turner also missed from 41 and 42 yards in the game, while Colts kicker Lou Michaels missed from 27 and 46. Kicking, half a century ago, was not nearly as reliable as it is now.
In Super Bowl VI, kicker Mike Clark was perfect for the Cowboys, hitting all three of his extra points… plus one field goal that was even shorter than that, his record-tying 9-yarder. Garo Yepremian — poor Garo Yepremian, he really did not have the best time in Super Bowls — missed a 49-yarder for the Dolphins, but was responsible for Miami’s only points of the 24-3 contest, a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter.
The Cowboys have been to several more Super Bowls and had several more field goals in the half-century since Super Bowl VI. Dallas also has the record for the longest field goal allowed, 54 yards by Steve Christie in Super Bowl XXVIII. Not that America’s Team minded it on the way to a 30-13 rout.
The Jets… it says a lot about the Jets that their last Super Bowl field goal was a 9-yarder, which would be impossible now because it would have to be kicked from a yard inside the end zone.
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